|
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 May, 2000COMPLETE SERVICE FOR NZ MANUFACTURERS WITH PARKSIDE'S NEW TESTING FACILITYUnderwriters Laboratories has expanded its EMC testing capability to become the first full one-stop testing facility in the Asia Pacific region. The Christchurch-based facility has greatly increased the scope of its business over recent years, adopting a customer focused approach and actively recruiting highly qualified staff to provide the wide range of top quality services it now offers. Now it has opened the South Island’s first EMC Open Area Test Site on what they believe is an ideal site for accurate testing. Birdlings Flat, near Christchurch, is near sheer cliffs, giving it low RF ambient noise levels to enable accurate RF measurements to be taken from test products. Underwriters Laboratories General Manager Manuel Shimasaki says the location provides the country’s quietest open area test site. “It has no radio or television signal interference, which is a major problem for other sites around the world. We spent three years searching for the right location, and our efforts were well rewarded when we secured the Birdlings Flat site. The conditions are ideal for accurate testing." A wide range of information technology equipment will be tested at the facility, from computers and monitors to modems and digital cameras, along with household appliances like washing machines and television sets. The $250,000 testing facility has a concrete pad with a ground plane where the measuring is conducted and it is fully automated to avoid technician error. "Special consideration has also been given to the requirements of industrial and commercial equipment by allowing for product weights up to half a ton and power capacity of 415 volts, 100 Amps, three phase," Mr Shimasaki said. New Zealand’s only other EMC testing facility is in Auckland. Mr Shimasaki says that before Underwriters’s facility opened, most South Island manufacturers sent their products to Australia or Auckland for testing. “Canterbury is the hub of New Zealand's electronics industry and our new facility means manufacturers can save both time and money by having their products tested locally. “We’re expecting strong growth in use of the facility. Many New Zealand manufacturers are exporting and it's easier to get products into Europe now with the CE mark. Where manufacturers had to send their products to Europe for assessment, they can gain the CE mark through a New Zealand laboratory that is registered as Conformity Assessment Body (CAB)." The Open Area Test Site complements Underwriters’s EMC facilities to provide testing to European Norm EMC standards. The Laboratory is a registered Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) and New Zealand's only laboratory registered for both the EMC and LVD directives. Underwriters also performs EMC CE testing and C Tick testing for Australia and New Zealand. Underwriters's construction of the South Island’s only semi-anechoic chamber in April 1999, enabled it to provide fully compliant radiated testing to national and international radiated immunity standards. Since then the laboratory has seen strong growth in the use of these facilities, particularly by electrical and electronic manufacturers, who are utilising them for early product development. "We work with manufacturers when they are developing new products, enabling them to ensure that their products comply with all the standards’ requirements at an early stage. It makes a lot more sense to sort out problems in the development stage rather than having to make changes to the end product, which can be very costly. It also allows the products to placed on the market more quickly," Mr Shimasaki said. Underwriters Laboratories also conducts electrical safety testing, environmental testing, calibration and metrology - all third party accredited, and provides internationally recognised test reports, currently accepted in over 20 countries. It holds Conformity Assessment Body status for CE marking outside the European Union and has been recognised as a testing facility for Hong Kong and the Middle East. Underwriters has representatives on 10 technical committees establishing and amending electrical testing, EMC and calibration standards for Australia and New Zealand. Underwriters General Manager Manual Shimisaki also acts as a technical expert for IANZ (International Accreditation New Zealand) for the technical evaluation of other New Zealand laboratories and is a Referee for New Zealand on the TC77 Committee, making recommendations on IEC EMC standards. Since 1995 Underwriters Laboratories has operated a facility in Melbourne, Australia, where most of its high power testing is done. This laboratory provides services to the power industry and manufacturers of distribution electrical equipment. With the recent closure of a laboratory in South Australia, Underwriters's Melbourne facility is now one of only two high power test laboratories in the Asia Pacific region. More information is available at Underwriters Laboratories’ website www.parksidelabs.com or by emailing
enquiries@parksidelabs.com
|
|
|
© Copyright 2001 Underwriters Laboratories Ltd | Tel: +64-3-339-1670 Fax: +64
3-339-1671
|
